Need for departmental consultative panels arises

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken a slew of initiatives to activate various departments. He is doing it through the involvement of ministers and ruling party MLAs. If the Government forms a consultative committee against each department, the Chief Minister's efforts, it seems, can yield better results.

The Parliamentary Affairs Department has the rule to form a consultative committee against each department of the Government. Such consultative committees headed by departmental ministers concerned as chairpersons have both ruling and Opposition MLAs as members. According to rules, a departmental consultative committee has to hold at least two meetings a year.

Since MLAs are people's representatives, they can covey the very pulses of the masses in the form of suggestions to their respective consultative committees.

However, for reasons not known to The Sentinel, no departmental consultative committee was formed in the past five years in the State. The Department of Parliamentary Affairs had moved the file to form departmental consultative committees, but the move failed to materialize for reasons unknown.

Soon after assuming office, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took several steps to make the departments agile. Under his chairmanship, the Cabinet on Wednesday even formed a ministerial committee to monitor the implementation of all important decisions that the Cabinet takes from time to time. Together with all such positive steps, if the Government forms the consultative committees, the departments will gain agility.

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